Book of Shadows
The Book of Shadows, often just referred to as The Book, is the magical tome of the Warren Line of Witches. It is the most powerful and coveted of the Books of Shadows in the whole world and is over 300 years old. The Book has been passed down every generation ever since it was created by Melinda Warren in the 17th century. Besides all the information about the craft, the Book contains many entries on several beings from the magical community, including demons, warlocks, and other demonic beings. It also contains many spells and potion recipes, most of which were written by Penny Halliwell. First Generation History The Charmed Ones' book was started by Melinda Warren, who began the Warren/Halliwell line of witches, with the year "1693" written on its cover page. This actually creates a small discrepancy within the series as Melinda is known to have died in 1692; however it is possible that she created the book, and her daughter Prudence started adding to it later. Although it was fairly small then, each succeeding generation of Warren witches had added onto it, including information that they came across and felt necessary to be journaled. One of the earliest entries that was around when Melinda was alive included a curse, and possibly the entry which details the coming of the Charmed Ones, through carvings, (mentioned in Something Wicca This Way Goes...?), though this could've been done by a future descendant. After Melinda was burned at the stake, the Book passed to her daughter Prudence, and was passed down throughout the generations. Grams, often noted that she created most of the potion recipes in it (as Evil Witch Vanquishing Potion), and the only other entries we know for a fact that she wrote was the entry on the Necromancer, The Ice Cream Man and Gammill, The Collector. She wrote possible the Belthazor Vanquishing Spell, Upper Level Demonic Vanquishing Potion and the spells To Increase Patience, To Unbind a Bond and To Bind. Patty Halliwell added text on Barbas, the Demon of Fear, and also, the page on how to properly raise and nurture magical children. ("Happily Ever After," "From Fear to Eternity," "Reckless Abandon") The Charmed Ones themselves have added information, spells and potions, as well, for future generations. The first entry they made themselves was "Woogyman Spell", or how to banish the Shadow of the Nexus. Phoebe added a page on Cole Turner, Belthazor's human half including personal information like his favorite food and hobbies; "anything that could help future witches" after he'd broken her heart. This was reminiscent of the alterations Penny made to the Necromancer page, adding such things as "likes Clarke Gable movies" to aid in her getting over the end of their romantic relationship. Phoebe also wrote an entry on the warlock Anton. ("Is There a Woogy in the House?," "Pardon My Past," "Look Who's Barking," "Necromancing the Stone") A few spells in the Book of Shadows are used for personal gain. No explanation has been given to why such spells would be in the Book but it's likely that these spells were put in to teach future witches about the personal gain consequences; or as to they served a magical purpose to deal with evils of the time. At the end of the series, Piper, Phoebe and Paige added their own entries regarding what they've been through in their years as the Charmed Ones in order to pass down the knowledge to future generations. ("Forever Charmed") Leo added the entry titled, "Tips for Future Whitelighters," logging information about whitelighters and how to properly use their powers, for his sons, Chris and Wyatt, just in case he wasn't around to teach them himself. Brad Kern has stated that when a Warren/Halliwell witch dies, their magic is ingrained within the Book. He says that when the sisters die, they, like their ancestors, will essentially become "a part of the Book", so to speak. He goes on to say that he believes the Book to be a living entity within itself. At the end of the series when we are given a glimpse into the future, Wyatt and Chris Halliwell can be seen making a potion with the Book laying aloft the table top; it can be assumed that the sisters retire from their demon hunting and their progeny continue the Charmed Ones' destiny. Stealing the Book of Shadows Many evil beings have attempted to steal the Book of Shadows. * The Shapeshifters: Although they could touch the book (representative of how the Charmed Ones weren't quite strong enough for its protection to be at full power yet), they couldn't get it out the front door. * Abraxas: This demon managed to capture it by bringing it to the Astral Plane. This was possible as, technically, the book was still in the house (or rather the area where the house would be on the Astral Plane) but just on another plane. Due to his telekinetic powers, he could easily flick through the pages and move the book without it hurting or repelling him. By reading the spells in the book backwards, he almost rebound the Charmed Ones' powers, but they were able to retrieve it just in time. * Cole Turner: The human half of Belthazor tried to get the book, however, by then it was strong enough that no evil could touch it. As a result, it jumped off its stand and avoided him every time he took a step forward. He later mentioned that he got shocked the last time he tried to touch it. * Dantalian: A dark priestess named Dantalian worked with a warlock named Zile to capture Prue and unite them in a dark wedding ceremony which turned Prue into a warlock. By this time, the sisters' magic was so intertwined that the evil bond turned Piper and Phoebe into warlocks, and the influence contaminated the Book as well. Since the Book was now evil, Dantalian was able to steal it and take its power into her own hands -- thus becoming the first evil being to physically get the Book out of the manor. By vanquishing the warlock, the evil bond broke and the sisters and the book returned to normal. * Bacarra: In an alternate timeline, the warlock Bacarra time traveled back a few months with knowledge from the future to help his past-self. He told him of potion to blanket himself in goodness long enough to get through the Book's defenses, which contained (among other ingredients) Piper's blood. This allowed him to steal the book, which even, he noted contained information on and vanquishing potions for nearly every demon he'd ever heard of. Fortunately, Piper traveled back to stop him the entire series of events from happening, and Bacarra never got the book. * The Stillman Sisters: Three evil low level witches, the Stillman Sisters, cast an identity theft spell to make the world see them as the Charmed Ones. The book saw the Stillmans as the Charmed Ones as well; it wouldn't even let the real sisters touch it. The Stillmans then broke into the Manor and used a spell in the Book to steal the sisters' powers. However, the real sisters were able to convince their whitelighter, Chris Halliwell, that they were the real Charmed Ones. He tricked the Stillmans into fighting with each other and severing their bond as sisters, which undid the identity theft spell. The real sisters then took back their powers, bound the Stillmans' and turned them over to the authorities. * Zankou: The demon Zankou was able to steal the Book by killing friends of the sisters and resurrecting innocents that they've lost in order to make them feel weak and vulnerable. Whilst all three of them being mentally weakened, the Book's defenses were weakened as well and Zankou used the opportunity to take it. Though he managed to take it into his hands, he needed the sisters' powers to access its magic. Since the sisters lost their confidence, the Book defended itself against them instead. Eventually they managed to get it back with a Power of Three spell. Second Generation History The Book and Prudence Due to a decision made by Melinda Halliwell, Prudence Warren-Wentworth was put inside the book as a spirit to guide and help them (the Second Generation) in times of need. Because of this, Prudence became bonded to the book, retaining all its powers and having all its knowledge. Her strength grows as the girls' strength does, furthering how connected she is to the book. Although she initially couldn't even get out of the book and could only control it, floating it to its location, she eventually gained enough power that she could enter and leave the book at will. Much like Prudence can eneter and leave the book at will, the book can put her back in it and eject her out as well. Also, if anything happens to the Charmed Ones, such as them being turned evil, then Prudence and the book will turn as well. An example of this would be when Zeus turned the Second Generation evil and Prudence was turned as well. If the bond between the Charmed Ones breaks, then Prudence is going to fade away and can only return once the bond has been restoredDeadly Charms - Reinstated. . Appearance The Book of Shadows is very large, about the size of a dictionary or encyclopedia volume. It is bound in green leather; the front cover has a symbol composed of an interlocking triquetra and circle on it, symbolizing the Power of Three and the Warren/Halliwell Family of Witches. Despite being three hundred years old, the book is actually in very good condition, although the pages have yellowed somewhat with age. The book is written by hand in ink. Entries have their titles in elaborate multicolored calligraphy. The book is written by the whole Warren/Halliwell line, throughout the generations, and possibly by also very close friends. The book contains many illustrations, chiefly of demons and other magical creatures. Most of the book is in English, but some of it is in Italian and Latin. The book's organization is haphazard at best. The Charmed Ones remarked on several occasions that they searched "the entire book" when looking for specific information. This suggests that the book's previous owners simply filled in the pages sequentially rather than arranging the contents topically. (Given that the Book of Shadows is a collaborative work with contributions by generations of Warren and Halliwell witches, topical organization was likely a practical impossibility). Notable Entries * The book's first page was the Dominus Trinus spell: which allowed the Charmed Ones to receive their powers by midnight under a full moon. ("Something Wicca This Way Comes") * Patty wrote in an entry on Barbas, the demon of fear, to guide her girls through the day, and encourage Prue to embrace her love for other people again. ("From Fear to Eternity"). ''She also wrote a page on the proper way to nurture magical children. * An entry on the witch Nell and how she trapped the warlock Malcolm in a painting in the 1920s is completely in Latin. ''("The Painted World") * Phoebe has written a spell to banish the Woogyman ("Is There A Woogy In The House?"), an entry on the warlock Anton and a page about Cole to warn future witches of him. ("Look Who's Barking") * A spell to banish a "Suxen" ("Nexus" spelled backwards) written by the Elders long ago in case they lost control of the Nexus. (Something Wicca This Way Goes...?) * Leo Wyatt, fearing he may not live to see his two sons grow up, wrote an entry "Tips for Future Whitelighters" on how to use whitelighter powers and general advice on charges. ("The Seven Year Witch") * Piper, Phoebe, and Paige wrote down paraphrased stories of their adventurous years to pass down to the next generation. ("Forever Charmed") * It is presumed that the sisters occasionally wrote about their experiences after vanquishing a demon, dealing with a ghost or other magical being. In some episodes this is hinted to be true like when Billie says she's been studying the Book. ("Run, Piper, Run") She knew how the sisters once used the help of a ghost, Charlene Hughes, to scare a pawn broker to confess to a murder ("Ex Libris"), and also learned about Grams' ring which turned Phoebe and Piper, in two separate occasions, into "Bewitched"-style housewives. * Phoebe says in Unnatural Resources, that the Book is three times the size it was when they inherited it, meaning that the sisters have indeed added a great amount to it. Powers and Abilities Main article: Prudence Warren-Wentworth's Powers Charmed BoS (Book of Shadows) Trivia "Without the Book of Shadows, there wouldn't have been a ''Charmed." — John Krechmer, a producer, discusses the Book in the ''Book of Shadows Documentary * The script of Something Wicca This Way Comes has Phoebe saying "The Book of Shadows" before opening the cover. This means that Connie's original idea was to have "The Book of Shadows" written or engraved on the cover itself as there is also no mentioning of a title page. * A picture of the Book of Shadows and the title page, can be seen on Disc 1, of every Charmed DVD. * Props master, Roger Montesano, said in an article of Charmed Magazine that Connie wanted the Book to be bigger but he worried that the actresses would have a hard time carrying the Book around. * There was an original pitch that a spirit would be contained in the Book that would assist the sisters causing spells and information about demons to appear. * In the Book of Shadows Documentary, it was stated the Book is a crucial part of the show, hence why on the series premiere the trunk it was contained in lit up as well as the entire storm sequence, and also why the chandelier in the foyer rattled when Phoebe invoked their powers. * The directors of the series state that the Halliwell Manor was the "womb" for the girls and the Book of Shadows was the heart and soul of their powers. * At one point the book weighed at 9 pounds, 6 ounces and was the most valuable prop on set. * Almost all of the book is hand drawn, calligraphy and images. Alyssa Milano liked the drawings so much that she had the artist paint murals on her walls at home. * Each page is hand-drawn by artists, and a lot of the pictures in the book are actually based on the crew. For example, an artist might base a new demon's facial structure and features on one of the camera men. * The Book of Shadows was kept locked in a safe place while they're not filming. * In the Book of Shadows Documentary Rose stated that when kids from the Make-A-Wish foundation or other charities came to visit the Charmed set, she would always make the prop managers take the Book of Shadows out of lock and key and allow the kids to thumb through the Book and look at it. * A photocopy of the Charmed Book of Shadows (beginning of Season 3, about eighty pages) was sold on e-bay in August 2003. It was supposedly used on the set as a stand-in for the real BoS. The final bid was $202,500. * The back-up versions of the following pages were sold in 2009; the Vinceres pages, the Charm of Multiplicity page, the Dark Priestesses page, Time Loops, Deflection, the Banshee pages and the Ice Cream Man & The Nothing pages. In season 2/season 3, back-ups from the book's pages were made. Other back ups have been sold as well. * There are several pages completely in Latin, though the pages on Nell shows signs of being the most recent, possibly being written by one of the three cousins from the 1920s; it seems odd that entries meant to advise would be in a language the reader would not likely know. * The Book's place in the attic is exactly above the Nexus. * To this day a lot of mystery surrounds it, several alternate pages exist for pages seen on television as well as feature pages that never made it to air due to necessary editing of episodes. Many texts like the ones from Zankou, and the Raptor demon still remain unknown. * Shortly after the show ended, Derek Baron, the artist of the season 8 pages, had a pdf file on his site which could be downloaded. The pdf contained all texts and fonts which he used on his pages. You can find a JPEG version of the pdf in the image here. * It is rumored that the foam book was sold on eBay for around $1,000, the resting one for around $4,000 and the backup book for $202,500. This has not been confirmed. * Holly Marie Combs stated in an interview that when Rose McGowan began working on the show, she once wrote her lines in the Book of Shadows and doodled on the pages as she was unaware of how valuable the prop was to the show, crew and actors/actresses. This creates a real life parallel to the episode Hell Hath No Fury in which Phoebe remarks that Paige stole the Book of Shadows without care because "it was just a book to her." * Upon the show's completion, a complete series set of Charmed on DVD was released. The set was packaged to look like the Book of Shadows which included selected pages from the series between seasons and a scan from the real Book's triquetra (only the R1 version). * The page "To Relinquish Our Powers" was removed by Prue in 1x10 Wicca Envy and in 4x03 Hell Hath No Fury, Piper marked the page "The Kevmay" with a large black X in marker because she vanquished him. In 2x17 How To Make A Quilt Out Of Americans, Gail removes the "To Separate a Witch From Her Powers" page from the book. * The Book of Shadows' pages were created by: # Carol Wood - Season 1 and 2 # Dan Haberkorn - Season 2 to 7 # Derek Baron - Season 8 # Other unknown artists. * The Book of Shadows is 353 years old as of 2045 * Some fans theorize that the Book can magically add pages to itself. * The Hero book's Triquetra, up until season 3 was rather thick and stitched but was later replaced whilst the back-up book was in use. You can see the seams all around and inside the symbol. The new Triquetra was less thick than the previous one and had no seams anymore because it was embossed on the leather. * The Book of Shadows in Season 1 was stitched/traditionally bound but was later changed so that it would be easier for the artists and the prop department to handle. References Category:Magical Item Category:Books of Shadows Category:Books